Artist of the Week: Brandon Flowers

by: Carlos Figueroa
Brandon Richard Flowers (born June 21, 1981) is the American frontman, vocalist, and keyboardist of the Las Vegas-based rock band The Killers.

Brandon Flowers, after dropping out of college, was a bellhop for a short while at the Gold Coast Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. In 2001 he was abandoned by the first band that he was in, a synth pop band known as Blush Response, after he declined to move with the rest of them toLos Angeles, California. Shortly thereafter, Flowers attended an Oasis concert, and realizing that he wanted to make the transition from a keyboard band to a true rock band, began searching for a guitarist. He responded to an ad that Dave Keuning had placed in the paper that listed, among other bands, The Cure and Oasis as influences. Keuning later stated that his first impression of Flowers was that he was wearing the same shoes Oasis had. After several short-lived bassists and drummers, Flowers and Keuning were joined by bassist Mark Stoermer and drummer Ronnie Vannucci and became the Killers in August 2002. Vannucci later said that, even with songs like "little dwarf versions of what we have now, Brandon wasn't afraid to just get up there and just do it. You need that when you're trying to get something off the ground. As far as the drive goes, Brandon was never half-assed." According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, his parents have always supported his decision to become a rock singer, and were often the only people in the audience at The Killers' early performances.

Flowers has been in a number of controversies based on comments he has made to the media. In particular, he made statements that sparked feuds with the bands Fall Out Boy, The Bravery and Panic At the Disco. However, he has since recanted, and told Spin magazine, "I'd like to take it all back. These people are just doing what they want to do, just like I am. I'm actually a nice person and I love people. I just am opinionated. It's not something I'm proud of." Flowers criticized Green Day for performing the song "American Idiot" in the United Kingdom. The concert, featured in Green Day's live DVD Bullet in a Bible, shows thousands of Europeans singing along to "American Idiot". Flowers said, "I just thought it was really cheap. To go to a place like England or Germany and sing that song—those kids aren't taking it the same way that he meant it." His assertion that Sam's Town would be one of the best albums to come out in the preceding 20 years drew ridicule from critics. Flowers has expressed his desire to be less provocative. He told The Advocate magazine, "With people that I've put down, I understand now that they have their own ability and a gift for doing whatever they're doing."

Flowers appeared as an interviewee on the Pet Shop Boys: A Life in Pop DVD, and subsequently also presented the artists with an Outstanding Contribution to Music award at the 2009 BRIT Awards. He and Lady Gaga then performed with Pet Shop Boys as part of a medley of their hits.

While Flowers is usually confined to singing, or even playing keyboard on most of the Killers' songs, Flowers plays bass in the song For Reasons Unknown, the 4th single from the Sam's Town album.

*By the way, the poll for who will be Artist of the Month for March  is already up and will be closed until March 5 (to give people some time to vote... although I doubt we'll get as much votes this time, because of the holidays). Tomorrow we will have the rest of the Artist of the Month sections for March and Wednesday will be for the Indiespensables and Essentials to catch up. 
     P.S. I still wonder where David is...

Artist of the Month: Liam Gallagher

by: Carlos Figueroa

William John Paul "Liam" Gallagher (born 21 September 1972 in Burnage, Manchester) is an English musician and songwriter best known as the lead singer, and occasional instrumentalist, of English rock band Oasis. One of the figureheads of the 1990s Britpop movement, Gallagher's erratic behavior, distinctive singing style, and abrasive attitude have been the subject of commentary in the press. He remains one of the most recognisable figures in modern British music. Although his elder brother Noel Gallagher wrote the majority of Oasis's songs, Liam has penned the singles "Songbird" and "I'm Outta Time", along with a number of album tracks and B-sides.

Since Noel Gallagher's departure from Oasis in August 2009, Liam has said he will continue making music with ex-Oasis members Gem Archer, Andy Bell, drummer Chris Sharrock and keyboard player Jay Darlington.

Gallagher was born in Burnage, Manchester, and is the third and final child of Irish parents Thomas and Peggy Gallagher. Thomas was often violently abusive to his family. Although his older brothers Noel and Paul took the most abuse, Liam has said that the abuse affected him deeply and inspired him to become an artist - his true inspiration in life coming from his love of Manchester City Football Club. When Liam was 10, Peggy took the boys and moved away from Tommy. Although Liam maintained sporadic contact with his father throughout his teens, he says that today their issues remain unresolved.

Paul and Noel often contend that even from a young age, Liam went out of his way to antagonise people, especially Noel, with whom he shared a room. The Gallagher brothers were troubled children, especially in their teens. Liam was expelled from school at age 15 for fighting, and would often steal bicycles from local shops.

Noel Gallagher has said that Liam showed little interest in music until his late teens. Liam became confident in his abilities to sing and began listening to bands like The Stone Roses, The Who, The Kinks, The Jam, T.Rex and The Beatles. In the process he forged a life-long obsession with John Lennon; Liam would later claim to be Lennon re-incarnated. When school friend Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan, invited Gallagher to join his band, The Rain, as a vocalist, he agreed.

Liam was the band's co-song writer, along with guitarist Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs. Noel Gallagher has since openly mocked this writing partnership, describing them as being "just awful"; even Liam admits that "We were shit". The band only rehearsed one day a week and didn't get many gigs. It was after one of their rare shows in 1992, that Noel, having recently returned from touring America as a roadie with Inspiral Carpets, saw them perform. Although Noel disliked the band, Liam asked him to join and Noel agreed on the condition that he be the sole songwriter, ending Liam and Bonehead's songwriting partnership. Noel later went on to say "If you think some of my early stuff is bad, you should have heard the stuff that those two were coming out with." It was around this time that Liam pushed for the band name to change to Oasis.

Liam's voice has been compared to a blend of John Lennon and John Lydon while Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine dubbed him "the best singer in rock". In 2006, Q magazine voted Gallagher the 11th best singer of all time, citing songs such as "Live Forever", "Lyla", "Don't Go Away" and "Champagne Supernova" as examples of his best work.

Since the early days of Oasis, Liam Gallagher's stage presence has become iconic in its own right. His "singing pose" is instantly recognisable, and entails him standing with a bent knee, body bent towards one side, hands either clasped behind his back, down by his side or in rarer occasions in his front pockets, with his neck craning up towards a mic that is set high and angled downwards. Gallagher also ensures that the microphone comes in the closest contact with him between his upper lip and nose, rather than directly in front of the mouth as is the case with most singers. On the Definitely Maybe DVD, Gallagher revealed that the reason he sings with his arms behind his back is because it allows him to project more power through his voice. In very early Oasis shows until about 1994, Gallagher can be seen touching the microphone with one hand, but still employing his usual singing posture with the rest of his body.

*On a side note, I decided to simply change the name of the post this time simply because of time reasons. It WILL NOT become a trend! For future Artists of the Month, they will get a small little post honoring them as the Artist of the Month and a slideshow for them too.

Artist of the Week: Hayley Williams

by: Carlos Figueroa

Well, you'll ask why do we have 2 artists of the week in one week. Well, simple: because there was no artist of the week last week! Hayley Nichole Williams (born December 27, 1988) is an American rock singer and songwriter. She is the lead vocalist and keyboardist of the rock band Paramore.

In 2002, at the age of 13, Williams moved from her hometown Meridian, Mississippi, to Franklin, Tennessee, where she met fellow band members Josh Farro and Zac Farro in school. Shortly after arriving, she began taking vocal lessons with Brett Manning. While still in school, she tried out for a local funk cover band called The Factory where she met Jeremy Davis. In 2005, John Janick, founder of record label Fueled by Ramen, signed a contract with them.

Williams is a guest singer on "Fallen" by Death In the Park (which she has occasionally performed live with the band), "Then Came to Kill" by The Chariot, "Keep Dreaming Upside Down" by October Fall, "Tangled Up" by New Found Glory, and "The Church Channel" and "Plea" by Say Anything, and "The Few That Remain" by Set Your Goals, and appeared in the music video for "Kiss Me" by New Found Glory.

In the 2007, Kerrang! Readers' Poll she finished second to Evanescence's Amy Lee in the "Sexiest Female" category, going on to win the first place spot for "Sexiest Female" a year later in the 2008 poll, and again in the 2009 poll. She also appears as a playable character in the video game Guitar Hero World Tour. On October 2, brand new eyes tour, it was announced that a few tour dates were postponed due to Hayley Williams becoming infected with laryngitis.

Williams also stated that her favorite bands include Saves the Day, mewithoutYou, Slick Shoes, The Chariot, Now Now Every Children, No Doubt, Fireworks, Set Your Goals, Tegan and Sara, New Found Glory, H2O, Lemuria, The Swellers.

Paramore was created in Franklin, Tennessee in 2004, with Hayley Williams (lead vocals/keyboards) alongside Josh Farro (lead guitar/backing vocals), Jeremy Davis (bass guitar) and Zac Farro (drums). Prior to forming Paramore, the other members of what was soon to be Paramore had been "edgy about the whole female thing" of having Williams as singer, but as they were good friends she began writing with them and eventually became a member. The band has released three studio albums, All We Know Is Falling, Riot!, and Brand New Eyes as well as two live albums and one EP. In June 2009, the band welcomed Taylor York (rhythm guitar) as an official member, although he had already been playing as a touring member with the band since 2007.

By the way, for your information, the next artist of the week will be Liam Gallagher, lead singer of the British rock band Oasis (also Oasis will be featured as one of the next 'Essentials'). Also, as a general rule in the FGI Nation, we'll try to post the artists of the week on SATURDAYS. Nevertheless, the poll for February's Artist of the Month will be put up starting today (to give y'all time to vote), so start voting!

Artist of the Week: Jared Leto

by: Carlos Figueroa

Jared Leto (born December 26, 1971) is an American actor and musician. He has appeared in films such as Fight Club, Girl, Interrupted, Panic Room, American Psycho, Requiem for a Dream, Lord of War, and Chapter 27, but really, that's not the reason he's the artist of the week! He is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and main-songwriter for the American rock band 30 Seconds to Mars.

Well, before I start talking about Jared, I guess I'll explain why I decided making this Artist of the Week Section. First of All, 30 Seconds to Mars's latest album, This is War, has been my most listened album in the week, especially because of the song "Kings and Queens". The second reason is because I (and David) would like to have a little bit of feedback from the readers (and of course our followers). Our proposal is nominating an artist of the week every week (that sounds a little redundant) and then, at the end of the month, have our readers vote for the artist of the month.

Now, back on Jared, I will start with a little bit of his biography. Leto was born in Bossier City, Louisiana. During his childhood, Leto and his family—his mother, Constance, and his older brother Shannon Leto—moved frequently, living in Louisiana, Wyoming, Colorado, Virginia, and even Haiti.

After dropping out briefly in the 10th grade, Jared decided to return and focus on his education at Flint Hill School in Oakton, Virginia. He graduated from the prep school Emerson Preparatory School, in Washington, DC in 1989. When he finished school, Leto enrolled at Philadelphia's University of the Arts to pursue his interests in painting. However, he then transferred to the private-held, School of Visual Arts in New York City after developing an interest in acting.

Now, I will not get into Jared's acting career (which I consider magnificent by the way) because in the FGI Nation we want to focus on music, so, I will skip directly into his career as a member of 30 Seconds to Mars.

Jared Leto is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and sole songwriter of the band 30 Seconds to Mars. He started the band in 1998 with his brother, Shannon Leto, who is the band's drummer. The band has released three full-length albums: the eponymous debut 30 Seconds to Mars, 2005's A Beautiful Lie and 2009's This Is War. They began opening for other bands and started their first headlining tour, Forever Night Never Day, in March 2006. In May 2007, the band started touring Europe.

In August 2008, Virgin Records filed a $30 million lawsuit against Jared and 30 Seconds to Mars, claiming the band refused to deliver three albums as required by its contract. According to the lawsuit, the band "repudiated" a 1999 contract in July. In late April 2009 the lawsuit with EMI was annulled and 30 Seconds To Mars decided to re-sign with Virgin Records. Their third album This Is War was released on December 8, 2009, while the first single, "Kings and Queens" premiered Tuesday, October 6, 2009. "This is War" is the second single of the album.

Leto directed the videos for the songs "The Kill", "From Yesterday" and "Kings and Queens" under the alias of Bartholomew Cubbins, and "A Beautiful Lie" under the alias of Angakok Panipaq.

For most shows, Leto uses either one of two custom-made Steve McSwain guitars, a white one called "Pythagoras" or a black one called "Artemis". The guitars: one a baritone and the other with a 25 1/2" scale length, have the image of a gryphon which he drew for McSwain. Occasionally he plays a white Gibson SG 61' Reissue as seen in the video for "A Beautiful Lie". Jared also plays a Gibson Maestro acoustic guitar for acoustic performances. Jared uses Mesa/Boogie amps, more specifically the Triple Rectifier model and matches them with Mesa/Boogie speaker cabinets as well.